Sunrise
by plshade
Summary: It was coming for one of them. Can Xander do what is needed to protect those that are precious to him?


Category: Xander-centric, slight B/X

Time line: After Season 7

Summary: It was coming for one of them. Can Xander do what is needed to protect those that are precious to him?

Spoilers: Nothing in particular.

Disclaimer: This is a fictional story. Joss & ME own the characters, I own nothing and make nothing from this story. In other words; Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did.

Revision - 08/23/2008

Word Count - 1,551

**Sunrise**

_It was coming._

That all I could think about as I ran alongside Buffy through the empty, dark streets of Sunnydale. We had to get someplace safe, someplace secure, someplace where we could protect her from...

_It was coming._

Suddenly a loud explosion erupted from behind, sending us tumbling to the ground. I scrambled to my feet and checked on Buffy. She looked okay as she stood up, fiercely clutching the bundle in her arms. With a brief glance at each other, we took off running again. The street seemed to get darker as...

_It was coming._

I almost cried out in joy at the sight of the name of the street that we'd just turned on to; Rovello Drive. We race a past a few houses before coming to a stop in front of one in particular. One house that never looked so beautiful as it did right then. I quickly sprinted up to the door and pushed it open. Buffy followed quickly and I locked the door behind her.

**BOOM!!**

**BOOM!!**

The door shook so violently with each blow from the other side, that I grabbed Buffy around the waist and dragged her up the stairs and into her room. After slamming the door shut, Buffy and I pushed her dresser in front of it. Once that was done, I leaned back against the wall breathing heavily. I looked over at Buffy to find her perfectly composed as she carefully peeled back the layers of material that covered the bundle in her arms.

"How is she?" I asked.

"Hope's fine." Buffy answered, smiling radiantly as she moved to my side. "With the way that she's handled everything that's happened, I could almost swear that she was Oz's child instead of ours."

With the small blanket pulled to the side, I could see a small cherubic face staring back up at me. I could see her clear blue eyes tracked my movement. I leaned in close only to have to pull back slightly as a pair of little hands shot out to grab my face. I had learned early on that even though she's barely a year old, she was very strong. I could still feel the bruises that her tiny hands had left on my face the first time she'd grabbed it after she was born. Yep, she was definitely her mother's daughter.

I looked up at Buffy and we both opened our mouths to speak when something heavy landed on the roof above us. Several cracks formed in the ceiling and dust fell from them, into the room. Quickly, Buffy reached under her bed with one arm and pulled out a long wooden box. I flipped open the lid and started grabbing weapons for us, mainly a machete for her and a large ax for me.

Suddenly the bedroom window exploded inwards, showering us with shards of broken glass. Buffy instantly faced away from the oncoming glass, shielding the baby in her arms even as I tried to protect both of them with my body. I could feel several shards punch through my shirt and embed themselves into my back. I ignored the pain and turned around. The window was gone and an oily, black smoke filtered into the room. It was strange to see the smoke slowly crawl over the framework of the window and cover not only the floor but the walls and ceiling too.

"Xander!"

Buffy's shout startled me out of my thoughts and I glanced at her over my shoulder. Her gaze was locked onto my back, obviously at the glass that I could faintly feel protruding from it. Her face had taken on a paleness that rivaled a vampire's and even Hope had a sad look adorning her angelic face. I gave them a wane smile and then turned around to face the creature that had been hunting us.

"Buffy, go."

"What?!" Buffy shrill shriek erupted from behind me. "There is no way that we're leaving you."

Without taking looking away from the darkness filtering in through the shattered remains of the window, I grabbed Buffy by her free arm and pulled her close enough to seen both her and Hope out of the corner of my eye,

"Please Buffy, you have to get Hope out of here. She's too important to die here and you know it."

"I'm not leaving you."

The love and conviction in her voice warmed me, deep inside. It was the only thing giving me strength enough to do what I needed to do. I opened my mouth to tell how much that I loved her when a dark, chilling laughter came from the darkness. I focused on the sight before me with morbid curiosity. Inside the blackness, the outline of two eyes and a mouth formed. There were no other distinct features to be seen except for the orange flames that flickered around the eyes.

"Run all you want mortals but you're daughter will still be mine in the end." A sharp bark of a laugh erupted from the darkness. "If you surrender her to ME, I just might let you live."

I looked down at Buffy and then at the tiny bundle in her arms. They were family, his life and now some hellbeast was threatening their safety. I could feel a cold anger began to simmer under the surface of my emotions. It was slowly replacing my fear of this creature, and that anger fueled my growing desire to destroy this evil. It didn't matter that I was only human, mortal. I was going to eradicate the hellspawn.

I quickly pulled Buffy into my arms, ignoring the pain in my back. I gave her and our daughter one final hug, told them that I loved them and then pushed them away. With hatred building from the depths of my soul, I turned to face the demon and noticed a slight change in the demon's only visible features. It was a momentary flicker in the shape of the creature's eyes that spoke clearly of surprise and maybe something more, but that didn't matter as I took one step forward and jumped into the darkness. I felt a flash of coldness and then I ...

... sat up in my bed. Throwing off the covers, I twisted around on my bed only to find myself alone in the room. I could swear that I could still feel the demon's presence, as if mocking me. I closed my eyes, trying to calm down and remember what had happened.

_We were running up a street, trying to lose the demon following us. We had just come up to Buffy's house.. Buffy's house?! Can't be, Sunnydale's a crater now. _

That was when I realized that it was just a dream. I sat on the edge of my bed, trying to banish that nightmare It had been a long time since I last dreamed about Sunnydale, and even longer since I had a dream about Buffy like that. Seeing Buffy holding their baby like that in the dream, tugged at an almost forgotten part of my heart.

I got off the bed, shoving the feelings awakened by the dream to the back of my mind and walked over to the window. After opening up the curtains, I watched as the sun began to rise over the Cincinnati skyline. Watching a sunrise always seemed to help to lift my spirits. It's funny how most of my nightmares always ended before dawn, just so I could watch the sun rise over the horizon.

_**Elsewhere**_

Sitting in the middle of the floor of a dark room, was a crystal ball of immense proportions, standing twice the height of the tallest human. Within it's depths, the scene of Xander staring out his window, slowly faded from view. The eldritch item continued to give off a faint glow in the darkness that surrounded it.

"Once again," The sound of a soft, but powerful voice reverberated throughout the room "Alexander has defeated your machinations,."

"It will only be a matter of time," a cloaked figure stated, moving into the faint light. "I will have his soul."

"It seems that a number of beings are interested in this particular mortal," the voice commented.

"They are of no concern to ME," the hood of cloaked figure pulled back to reveal a rather handsome male face with a pair of piercing red eyes and a halo of dim light hovering over the crown of his head The rest of the cloak fell away as two black-feathered wings spread out behind the man. "Only the two of US will matter in the end."

Silence reigned for several moments before the voice spoke again.

"Why are you so interested in this mortal?"

The handsome man's features darkened. "You know why I want him. Do not insult ME by asking for what you already know."

A dry chuckle drifted across the room before fading away. The almost, fond tone of the sound caused the man to bristle visibly. He quickly donned his cloak, covering his wings and strode angrily back into the darkness. After he left, the crystal ball flared into life. The image that formed inside the large object was once more that of Xander, as he watched the sunrise.

The End.


End file.
